May 11, 2024
Home
Stabling The Beast
John's Story
I finished driving home from Joplin to Oklahoma City, and bedded down the Long Haul Trucker in the stable.
Statistics
28 days on the road from April 12 to May 9. 25 days riding and 3 off days.
10 nights in motels. 7 nights camping. 6 nights with relatives. 4 nights with WarmShowers hosts. 1 night in a bike hostel.
1380 miles at an average of 12.0 mph. 115 hours in the saddle.
37,296' of hill climbing.
What's Coming Up?
I'll be riding my Masi carbon fiber road bike this next month to get ready for the Tour of Minnesota that starts on June 15. Once I'm back from that I'll alternate between the Masi and the Long Haul Trucker, just to stay used to both of them, until the end of August when I'll go back to riding just the Masi in advance of the Will to Ben ride in early October. I've not decided whether to journal these short rides.
I have some ulterior motives for doing the Tour of Minnesota again this year (third time in 6 years). Next year's completion of the Crossing of the T will entail following the Mississippi River from where we left off in Moline, IL to the headwaters of the river at Lake Itasca in Minnesota, then on to Canada. I'm hoping to get some good advice from Minnesota bikers about route options from Lake Itasca north, as population and resources thin out going beyond the lake.
Ed and I had registered to do the Will to Ben Ride in 2020 when Covid shut the country down. No refund from Bike Wisconsin/ Bike Illinois, just a credit towards future rides. We did their SAGBRAW ride in 2021, but that didn't exhaust our credit, so we decided to come back for the ride we originally wanted to do. Will to Ben zigzags along the upper Mississippi River from the "Will Be Rolling" statue in Port Byron, IL to the "Ben Bikin" statue in Sparta, WI.
Until next time!
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 4 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 1 |